Anyone into electric cycling? Electric Bicycles

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Boomer23

Well-known member
Joined
May 23, 2010
Messages
3,561
Location
Orange County, CA
On a whim, while at Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica last Friday, I tried riding an electric bike. I was amazed. Since testing a couple of e-bikes inside the event center, I've visited a couple of shops and tried riding on the street and up hills. They have "pedal assist" which magnifies each of your pedal strokes so strongly that you feel like you have bionic legs. You can ride up a steep hill like it's flat. It's a real rush. And many of the e-bikes also have a throttle so you can be lazy and ride it like a little motorcycle.

You still get exercise because you need to pedal to get the assist, and you can vary the assist down to zero for more effort. And some of the bikes can be set on training mode so that you can pedal against the motor's regen resistance and charge the battery. The regen also works on downhills, but it's pretty minimal.

Of course, I'd heard about electrified bikes for years, but just considered them a dorky, low tech, slow and boring fad.

I've been a cyclist for the past 25 years, but I've let myself get older (not sure if I could have prevented THAT :cry: ) and out of shape, so the hills and long distances, as well as keeping up with fitter companions, are intimidating. I'm thinking that having an e-bike will get me back out there in nature, open up some hilly routes that I've always rejected as too challenging, and be a lot of fun.

I'm about to pull the trigger and have a BionX kit installed on my mountain bike. It's expensive, like $2,000, but cheaper than a good quality complete new e-bike.

Anyone else into this fun hobby?
 
Boomer23 said:
On a whim, while at Alt Car Expo in Santa Monica last Friday, I tried riding an electric bike. I was amazed. Since testing a couple of e-bikes inside the event center, I've visited a couple of shops and tried riding on the street and up hills. They have "pedal assist" which magnifies each of your pedal strokes so strongly that you feel like you have bionic legs. You can ride up a steep hill like it's flat. It's a real rush. And many of the e-bikes also have a throttle so you can be lazy and ride it like a little motorcycle.

You still get exercise because you need to pedal to get the assist, and you can vary the assist down to zero for more effort. And some of the bikes can be set on training mode so that you can pedal against the motor's regen resistance and charge the battery. The regen also works on downhills, but it's pretty minimal.

Of course, I'd heard about electrified bikes for years, but just considered them a dorky, low tech, slow and boring fad.

I've been a cyclist for the past 25 years, but I've let myself get older (not sure if I could have prevented THAT :cry: ) and out of shape, so the hills and long distances, as well as keeping up with fitter companions, are intimidating. I'm thinking that having an e-bike will get me back out there in nature, open up some hilly routes that I've always rejected as too challenging, and be a lot of fun.

I'm about to pull the trigger and have a BionX kit installed on my mountain bike. It's expensive, like $2,000, but cheaper than a good quality complete new e-bike.

Anyone else into this fun hobby?
I'm intrigued by them, but as I'm still capable of doing my normal errands and the occasional extended ride under my own power, I have no reason to switch. I've definitely been mentioning them to people who have <10 mile one-way commutes, and who are considering a Leaf or other EV and don't want to do all the work themselves.
 
I've often wondered about them and wish I could give one a try. Where I live there are hills everywhere in every direction. Riding a bike is torture because the hills are soo long and difficult to climb in the bike. My fear, though, is that the e-bike battery won't be good enough to actually make it up the hill.
 
GRA said:
I'm intrigued by them, but as I'm still capable of doing my normal errands and the occasional extended ride under my own power, I have no reason to switch. I've definitely been mentioning them to people who have <10 mile one-way commutes, and who are considering a Leaf or other EV and don't want to do all the work themselves.

The commute thing is a good idea. Because you don't need to get sweaty, e-bikes can be a real option for a work commute. Fifty million Chinese can't be wrong, right? :D
 
Boomer23 said:
Anyone else into this fun hobby?
I thought about it seriously a year or two ago, but ended up buying a short wheel base (SWB) recumbent bike to complement my long wheel base (LBW) recumbent bike. The SWB bike is faster and more nimble (and thus more fun), so I haven't ridden the LWB for quite a while.
 
adric22 said:
I've often wondered about them and wish I could give one a try. Where I live there are hills everywhere in every direction. Riding a bike is torture because the hills are soo long and difficult to climb in the bike. My fear, though, is that the e-bike battery won't be good enough to actually make it up the hill.

It's worth finding a shop that gives test rides or rentals, and try it on the hills. I found that you definitely need to pedal and use the pedal assist mode up hills, but like I said, the assist absolutely flattens steep hills. You won't likely be able to use the throttle for uphills because the power isn't strong enough for steep hills, you use up the battery quickly and I think it can be hard on the motor. But with the pedal assist, you feel like a superhero and just step up those hills like they're flat.
 
I am still getting around with my "big" GT city bike for my daily ride and my recently acquired folding Xootr bike. The place in El Segundo, CA that I bought the Xootr mainly sells E bikes so I got a good look at them there. http://www.electricbikesla.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.browse&category_id=6I like the features of the Pedego. Also I see REI now carries E bikes. For sure, I see myself eventually transitioning to the E bike. I prefer daily biking to walking...cooler, sense of speed and movement makes it much more appealing to me.
 
KeiJidosha said:

Yep, I sure am. Kevin there is really great and they have a policy of fitting the BionX to your existing bike for free! So that eliminates the issue of me not being much of a bike mechanic.

I'm just trying to choose between putting the BionX on my existing low-end ($650) GT mountain bike or ponying up an extra grand for something super cool looking like a Stromer.

I'd rather have the better dashboard display that the BionX has over the Stromer's basic LED panel, and I like that the BionX throttle can be used at any time, but with the Stromer, you have to switch on the fly between pedal assist and throttle.
 
adric22 said:
I've often wondered about them and wish I could give one a try. Where I live there are hills everywhere in every direction. Riding a bike is torture because the hills are soo long and difficult to climb in the bike. My fear, though, is that the e-bike battery won't be good enough to actually make it up the hill.
Any chance you'll be traveling out to the Bay Area anytime soon?

http://www.plugz-rental.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can't ask for a better test of hill climbing ability than the City, and it would be easy to design a route that mimics yours, as there's plenty of flat areas as well.
 
Kataphn said:
I am still getting around with my "big" GT city bike for my daily ride and my recently acquired folding Xootr bike. The place in El Segundo, CA that I bought the Xootr mainly sells E bikes so I got a good look at them there. http://www.electricbikesla.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.browse&category_id=6I like the features of the Pedego. Also I see REI now carries E bikes. For sure, I see myself eventually transitioning to the E bike. I prefer daily biking to walking...cooler, sense of speed and movement makes it much more appealing to me.

Thanks for the links, Kat. I'll check out REI. I hadn't thought of them.
 
I've owned an UltraMotor A2B Metro bike for 4 years now. I use them to commute to work (6 miles away), and for errands.

The electric motor went bad recently and I had to replace it to the tune of almost $500 (part and labor and tax). I was very disappointed about that, because I expected the motor to last a very long time, but obviously not.

The Lithium Ion (Manganese Oxide) battery is still holding up OK, although it probably doesn't have the original range of 20 miles anymore. I never have the need to go that far in between recharges so I never really get to test out the actual range. I only use it maybe 3 days a week on the average, so it's not put to heavy frequent use either.

ebikemetrous.jpg
 
There are plenty of options for power, range, hill climbing ability, etc. Pedal assist is one option, but most kits in use in NA are not - just twist the grip for additional power.

The folks at Ebikes Canada have one of the best reputations in North America for service and truth - start exploring on their site: http://www.ebikes.ca/

Here's a look at where the hobby can take one - be careful with that first step. :lol:
(I built the pair of charge controllers/battery management units seen in the beginning of the video. ;))

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzvtY5TzqKQ[/youtube]
 
AndyH said:
Welcome to the dark side, Boomer! :lol:

http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/

Ebike across Canada - Pacific to Atlantic
http://www.endless-sphere.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=7134

What are you riding, Andy?

Oops, I see that we were cross-posting. Sorry about that.

EDIT: Andy, what you have there, my friend, is a MOTORCYCLE! :lol: Very impressive, though.

I have read about guys that want a lot of speed, though. The US limit of 20 mph is fine for me.

I'm not looking to go that fast, just get some help with pedaling up hills.
 
AndyH said:
There are plenty of options for power, range, hill climbing ability, etc. Pedal assist is one option, but most kits in use in NA are not - just twist the grip for additional power.

The folks at Ebikes Canada have one of the best reputations in North America for service and truth - start exploring on their site: http://www.ebikes.ca/

Here's a look at where the hobby can take one - be careful with that first step. :lol:
(I built the pair of charge controllers/battery management units seen in the beginning of the video. ;))

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzvtY5TzqKQ[/youtube]
Wow, 50mph??? That's ridiculously fast for an ebike. I'm not even sure if it's legal at that speed without vehicle registration. At that speed, it probably has to be registered as an electric motorcycle/scooter. But it's sure is cool. I wonder what kind of braking system needs to be installed to allow quick braking at 50 mph. It almost has to be a disc brake for sure.

The UltraMotor A2B bike I have has a speed limiter to keep the speed maxed out at 20mph only, although I think it can go faster if allowed. I think they limit it to 20mph so that it can still be considered a bicycle (hybrid) and doesn't have to be registered.
 
I decided on the BionX 48 volt fitted to my existing GT Avalanche 2.0 mountain bike. Seems like a good combo, so we'll see how well it works out. I'm getting it put on my bike tomorrow at Electric Cyclery in Laguna Beach http://www.greenspeed.us/electric_cyclery.htm. I have a free Saturday morning, so I'll be able to try some test rides.

Here are the specs: BionX 48V

Hope I can sleep tonight! :cool:
 
Boomer23 said:
What are you riding, Andy
Just a cheapie mountain bike with a hub motor from Amped Bikes. I had a small business selling LiFePO4 cells and building battery management units for ebikers. The bike and Chinese electric motorcycle are fun test beds. :)
Boomer23 said:
EDIT: Andy, what you have there, my friend, is a MOTORCYCLE! :lol: Very impressive, though.

I have read about guys that want a lot of speed, though. The US limit of 20 mph is fine for me.

I'm not looking to go that fast, just get some help with pedaling up hills.
That I understand - 20-25 mph on a bicycle feels plenty fast. I prefer something a bit more substantial when speeds get past about 35. As for the video, while I supplied parts of the battery and the management system, that's not my bike.

The BionX kit looks great - have fun!
 
I've cycled most of my life. I fear that an electric bike would be the beginning of the end. Personally I need the bike as a means to measure myself against the world. That is the best thing about riding and I don't want to give that up, ever. If I begin dottering, sit me on a trike or quadricycle with super-low gears and let me grind away at a snail's pace if that's what it takes to get me outside moving under my own, and only my own, power.
 
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